Improvement in bank-checks



A; C. PAQUET. Improvement in Bank-Checks, &c. No. 114,963. PatentedMay16,1871,

" MECHANICS NATYONAL BANK fihilmlelghia/ lzlsw Wain/ewe fnmrzior the die.

time sale ANTHONY o. PA UETQ' F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 114 63, dated May 16, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN BANK-CHECKS, &c.

v The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent andmaking part of the same.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTHONY O. PAQUET, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvafiia, have invented'a new and improved De Vice for Preventing the Fraudulent Alteration of Bank- Ghecks and other papers expressing a money valuation and I do hereby deelare that thefollowing is a full, -clear, and exact description of the same, reference being'had to the accompanying drawing which-forms part thereofl'and in which Figure 1 is a view of a'bank-check, showing my invention. I

Figure 2 is a view of the acting face of the steel die used toproduce the result hereinafter described.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same.

from" the die;

Figure 5 is aview,-in perspective, of the hardenedsteel bed or block on which the check is laid to receive the action of the die. My invention relates to means for preventingthe fraudulent alteration of checks and other papers of. value; and l It consists in compressing the fibers of the paper by Figure 4is a View of one of the steel types detached means ofa suitable die of hardened steel, having therein figures corresponding to the amount expressed in the paper, the said-die acting against a bed, which is likewise of hardened steel, by means of which compression the amount for which the check is drawn is produced in water-line or translucent figures, as will be hereinafter more fully described. v

In the accompanying drawing the die D is represented as being of rectangular form having a space for-theinsertionof the required steel figures, which are secured firmly therein by a set-screw or other equivalent device. They are so adjustcdas that their acting faces shall project a little beyond the plane of Used with the latter is the bed 'or block E, likewise of hardened steel, having a plain smooth surface to receive the action of the compressing-die upon the paper laid thereon.

After the check or other paper has been filled. inwith the amount for which it is drawn, the steel figures to express such amount are placed in the die and secured therein in any suitable manner. The check is then laid .upon the hardenedesteel bed to receive the action of the compressing-die. When the latter is brought down upon the paper the result isthe compression thereof corresponding to the figures in the die, for, havinga solid surface underneath, the fibers of the paper are not stretched or extended, (as in embossing or indenting,) but compressed, which causes the lines forming the figures to have a translucent or water-line appearance, while the surrounding portions of the check are unaltered. This result has obviously a great advantage over other inventions clairning to prevent the alteration of checks. It is impossible to alter or efi'ace the water-line ortranslucent impressions produced as described, while it is apparent that, by dampening a check or other paper having the value thereof indented or embossed upon it, (as is the case when a yielding bed is used to'resist the action of the die,) and subjecting it to heavy pressure. while yet moist, such mark or indication of valuemay be changed to suit fraudulent purposes, if not entirely eradicated.

By my process the fibersof the paper once displaced,

by the action of the hardened compressing-dies against an equally hard bed cannot by'any 'nicans be brought to bear thesame appearance as the body of the paper not subjected to the action of the said die.

I do not wish to limit my device alone to bankchecks, as it can be used for any and all purposes where it is desirable that 'a money valuation should be marked as well as written upon papers of value.

I contemplate the placing of'a piece of parchment between the dies and check to prevent'umlue injury to the fibers of the paper during compression.

Having described my invention, I claim- .The amount for which a check or other paper of value is drawn produced in the body of the paperby 1 a die of hardened steel, or equivalent,-acting against a bed or block, likewise of hardened steel, whereby the fibers of the paper are compressed and the impression rendered translucent, or has the appearance of what is known as water-line, as herein described. I

In testimony whereof I havehereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. ANTHONY G. PAQUET. Witnesses:

JOSEPH EvANs, FRANK STOUT. 

